Thursday, September 22, 2005

Ohio Law Will Close Abortion Clinics

Ohio Right to Know Law Will Close Cincinnati Abortion Business

by Steven ErteltLifeNews.comEditorSeptember 21, 2005

Cincinnati, OH (LifeNews.com) -- A new state abortion law requiring abortion practitioners to give women information in person about abortion's risks and alternatives prior to an abortion will close down an abortion business in Cincinnati. The director of the center says she doesn't have enough staff to devote to providing the women the information.

We take this opportunity to thank you for your recent leadership of the hearings for Judge John Roberts. You and your staff are to be commended and long remembered as a model.We note that your Democratic colleagues have alleged that the Bush administration and the president’s nominee to be the next Chief Justice are hiding something because of the refusal of the Justice Department to release the deliberative process working papers of the Office of the Solicitor General pertaining to Judge Roberts. These are documents that every living past solicitor general, Democrat and Republican, has agreed should not be released.However, we are writing because we believe that there are more pressing documents that should be released to the American people so that they may fully understand the nature of the politics and opposition to the president’s judicial nominees. These are the unpublished “Memogate” papers that were seized last year by the Sergeant-at-Arms, William Pickle, and which were on the Committee’s server at the end of the last Congress.Last year, Republicans and Democrats were rather hasty in adjudging that these documents were “confidential” or “private,” or meriting of any protection from the scrutiny of the American people. As a recent memorandum from the Senate Archivist has made clear, the documents that are electronically stored on the network of the Senate Judiciary Committee are public property to be archived at the end of every Congress in the National Archives, to be released according to law after a period of years. As the D.C Circuit indicated in Pearson v. Dodd, such documents are neither private nor private property, but are very much in the public domain and public interest. Of course, as the framers settled and the Supreme Court has noted, the ethic of the Congress is open access to information. The Senate honors this ethic in the elaboration of Rule 29, which defines those few matters that are held secret and confidential. Notably, Congress has authorized staff members to discover evidence of corruption “wherever”: found through its adoption of the Code of Ethics for Government Service.Once the documents of the Committee are archived in the National Archives they are not to be releases for a long period of years, with one exception, the Chairman, the Committee, or respective members can order their release at an earlier time. We ask you first to ensure that these documents have been duly archived as the law requires, and to order the release of the unpublished Memogate papers to the public and the press. Some of your Democrat colleagues have made all kind of frivolous and abusive allegations in this matter to distract from the seriousness of the content of their papers. We know that hasty Republican senators have surrendered to the use of reckless language, such as “stolen” and “theft” to warrant the appearance of bipartisanship. However, such two-year-old mere allegations of crime do not alter the fact that the documents in question are public property and may be released now. The American people have the right to know what motivates senators when they oppose a judicial nominee. Just this past Friday, the Wall Street Journal, which first published the scandalous extracts of some Memogate papers, published this description of the content of the papers in question, which should lawfully have been transferred to the National Archives.“These published and many still unpublished documents in the hands of the Senate showed that Democratic senators obstructed Bush judicial confirmations over two years in conjunction with promises of campaign funding and election support, used Senate resources to raise campaign funds, used their rejection of judicial nominees as fund-raising inducements, and coordinated with litigants to guarantee results in pending litigation. Democratic senators and their staff even picked which judicial nominees would be rejected well in advance of any hearing and actually invited liberal special interests to vote on what nominees would get hearings and votes. The documents also showed that Democratic senators imposed a special standard for a Hispanic judicial nominee, and had an improper design to block appellate court nominee Miguel Estrada in particular, because he was a Latino who could someday be elevated to the Supreme Court. The documents showed that Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois used his Committee staff to raise political funds.”This was written by a former Committee counsel who read some of these papers freely available on his desktop. Notably, last Wednesday, when The Hill’s reporter alerted Democratic staff that we intended to write this letter, as The Hill reported the next day, Senator Durbin responded by repeating his allegations that served last year to distract from the content of his papers in a letter to the Justice Department, distributed to the press.

In any case, we leave the politics of all this to others, and ultimate judgment to history. We are asking only that you order the release, or ask your colleagues to order the release, of the unpublished Memogate papers

To paraphrase some of your Democrat colleagues, after all what do they have to hide?

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Pope Bans Homosexuals as Priests

Pope Benedict XVI has given his approval to a new Vatican policy document that bans men with homosexual tendencies from being ordained as priests, reports Catholic World News.

The policy statement is a direct result of the pope's concern about the pedophilia scandal in the church – especially in the U.S.

The new document, prepared by the Congregation for Catholic Education in response to a request made by the late Pope John Paul II in 1994, will be published soon. It will take the form of an "Instruction," signed by the prefect and secretary of the congregation: Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski and Archbishop Michael Miller, according to the report.

The report was first referenced on Joseph Farah's nationally syndicated radio program last week by Raymond Arroyo, author of the new book "Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve and a Network of Miracles." Arroyo has covered the papacy more than any other journalist

Monday, September 19, 2005

Prostitution and International AIDS

From the Republican Study Committee in Congress:

The owner of a mail-order pornography and sex-toy company sued the federal government, saying his group shouldn't have to oppose prostitution and sex-trafficking to get U.S. funds. Click here to learn more:

Drink Coke - It's the Real Thing !!!!

America's "Long Middle Finger"An awkward description of the U.S. as "the long middle finger" of the world set off a blogosphere brouhaha for PepsiCo (PEP ) President and CFO Indra Nooyi.

Speaking at Columbia University on May 15, Nooyi likened five major continents to her hand -- with the U.S. (not a continent) the middle one and Africa the often-ignored pinkie. As she put it: "Each of us...must be careful that when we extend our arm in a business or political sense, we take pains to assure we are giving a hand...not the finger. . . .

Unfortunately, I think this is how the rest of the world looks at the U.S.

A burst of online outrage followed, forcing Pepsi to post an apology on its Web page.

Nooyi issued a statement saying: "I love America unshakably" and "am extremely grateful" for its opportunities, but has yet to offer a personal apology for her insulting remarks.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Judge Rules Pledge of Allegiance Unconstitutional in Public Schools

Judge rules Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional in public schools

By DAVID KRAVETS

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools was ruled unconstitutional Wednesday by a federal judge who granted legal standing to two families represented by an atheist who lost his previous battle before the U.S. Supreme Court.

U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton ruled that the pledge's reference to one nation ``under God'' violates school children's right to be ``free from a coercive requirement to affirm God.''

Karlton said he was bound by precedent of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which in 2002 ruled in favor of Sacramento atheist Michael Newdow that the pledge is unconstitutional when recited in public schools.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Chris Schenkel Dies: Got His Start at WKBV 1490

Chris Schenkel was a fresh-faced farm boy from tiny Bippus, Ind., just out of the U.S. Army and World War II, when he landed a job at WKBV-1490 in Richmond, Indiana in 1946.

"I enjoyed that station and everybody involved there," Schenkel, 82, who died Sunday following a long battle with emphysema, remembered in a 1982 Palladium-Item story. "I'd just got out of the Army, and I really couldn't believe that they gave me a job."

A 1943 Purdue University graduate, Schenkel worked in Richmond for almost a year before moving to the East Coast and a broadcast career that saw him become one of the top television sports commentators of the 1960s through 1980s.

But the Hall of Fame broadcaster started modestly in Richmond.

"I did everything at the Richmond station, from sports play-by-play to doing the news," he remembered in 1982. "I was disc jockey, and sometime I was engineer and announcer, too."

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Down The Hatch !

I wanted to wait until Labor Day passed before writing to alert you to a campaign that could use your seed assistance, especially given that Rep Toomey lost to Arlen Specter by only 0.8%.

Utah State Representative and Majority Whip Steve Urquhart announced in July that he would challenge Orrin Hatch at the Utah Republican Convention in May 2006.

Newspapers and bloggers in Utah have welcomed Urquhart's challenge as a viable alternative to the fifth term senator. As the former head of the Utah county governments association, Urquhart's challenge has been well received by a wide array of Utah political leaders. Technology industry leaders like Dallas Maverick's owner Mark Cuban have also announced that they will fund any effort to unseat Mr. Hatch.

In Utah, if a candidate gets 60% of the vote at the Convention, he goes unchallenged in a primary. If no candidate gets 60%, there is a primary. In 2000, Senator Hatch barely reached 60% though challenged by a political unknown. That does not describe Urquhart. To win in 2000, Hatch promised that he would stand against embryonic stem cell harvesting, a promise he broke in 2002. You can access Rep. Urquhart's site here http://www.steveu.com/ . This is how Mr. Urquhart describes his campaign plan.

"I need 3,000 volunteers to join the campaign by the end of this November. With this base, we can take on all the money and celebrity that are thrown at us. With 3,000 dedicated volunteers by November, the winds of change will decisively turn things our way.

We will win this election by convincing people to attend their neighborhood Republican caucus meetings the night of March 21, 2006, to vote for change. The delegates elected at those caucus meetings will attend the State Convention on May 20, 2006. There, we will get over 60% of the vote, allowing us to immediately focus our resources and attention on the November general election.

Should we fail to get over 60% at the State Convention, we will stand for the June 27, 2006, Republican primary against the candidate who received the second-most votes at the State Convention. Though a primary would involve additional time and resources, it would be a platform for us to get out our message of strength and leadership to more Utahns.

After securing the Republican nomination at convention or primary, we will win the general election in November. Then, the real campaign begins to re-establish the conservative principles on which our country was founded and to properly serve the day-to-day concerns of Utahns who need to interact with the federal government."

I invite you to consider helping Mr. Urquhart's campaign:

1) You can send him $100 or more dollars, and pass this letter to others who might do the same. .2) You can write him and tell him you will support him and help raise more money. You can write him here: steveforsenate@gmail.com .3) You can invite him to speak at your event.4) You can let me know if you would like to meet him when he comes to Washington.

I hope this letter from me does not take you by surprise. Please consider helping to put a reliable and principled conservative in the Utah senate seat in 2006.

Congressman Mike Pence "Renewing The American Dream" in Iraq

I got an e-mail today from Karen Pence, wife of Congressman Mike Pence. Attached to that e-mail was a letter from the Congressman, a portion of which I want to share:

"On our way to the mess hall and dinner with the 138th, I spotted the real evidence of the presence of Hoosiers in Ramadi, Iraq…a heavily worn basketball goal tacked to the outside wall of the headquarters building. If that military HQ had been a barn, it would’ve almost been like home.

In the mess hall, the young men and women of the 138th joined me for dinner. I don’t know what I expected to find among these troops but what I did find was good spirits, high morale, fitness and a matter-of –fact attitude about the work ahead. I asked about the war and many spoke of steady progress, even in Ramadi. One soldier who had already seen a year in theatre said, “its gotten way better here in Ramadi from a year ago”. They were confident Americans doing a hard job in a hard place but no complaints.

Mostly they wanted to ask about home. We talked about Indiana’s response to Hurricane Katrina. They were concerned about how the country was holding up after such a tragedy. In a war zone, working in 110 degree heat, sleeping behind sandbags and 8,000 miles from Mom, Dad, Wife and kids..and they were worried about us. Where do we get men and women like these?"

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Indiana Court Ruling: Fetus is a Live Human Being

Bishop jury suggests sentence25-year-old won't face life without parole, but it will be decades before he could be freed

By Don Fasnacht Staff writer

Richard A. Bishop still has a glimmer of hope that he might walk out of prison one day.

A Wayne Superior Court 1 jury deliberated all day Friday and reached the decision his crimes do not deserve a sentence of life without parole.He will be sentenced Sept. 30 to a fixed term for murder of a fetus, attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend and burglary.

He will face between 45 and 65 years in prison for the murder conviction; 20 to 50 years for attempted murder; and two to eight years for burglary.If Judge Tom Snow were to give Bishop, who is 25, the maximum sentence on each charge and order the terms served consecutively, Bishop will be in prison for more than 120 years.

But sentences are usually served concurrently, so Bishop could be ordered to serve between 45 and 65 years with an additional four years thrown in for a probation violation on a previous charge.

With Indiana's policy of allowing one day of probation for each day of "good time" in prison, Bishop could emerge from prison before he is 60.Bishop was convicted of killing the unborn, but viable, baby of Tiffany Williams during a knife attack on her March 31, 2004.

He had broken into her Sheridan Street house. She was his ex-girlfriend and the baby was his.

Bishop's trial lasted four days, and the jury that worked all day Friday on the sentencing deliberated eight hours Thursday night before returning their verdict at 1 a.m. Friday.

They were back in the courtroom at 9 a.m. Friday to begin considering the sentence.

The jury's only duty was to determine the life without parole issue. Snow will affix the sentence in years.

The judge commended the 14 men and women (there were two alternates) who spent the week on the case.

"I've sat here and watched you work for five days," Snow told the jury, "giving us all your effort.

"It has renewed my faith in the system."

The jury spent at least five hours wrestling with the elaborate sentencing procedure.

The prosecution offered two aggravating circumstances to justify life without parole. One "aggravator" was the fact that Bishop was on probation at the time of the crime for a previous assault with a gun.

Defense attorney Steven Hunyadi argued that the fact Bishop was mentally ill at the time of the crime -- something the jury had confirmed in its guilty verdict -- was a mitigating factor.

The jury agreed the mitigating factors outweighed the aggravating factors in the sentencing.

Wayne County Prosecutor Mike Shipman said he was pleased with the guilty verdict and not visibly upset with the jury's rejection of his plea for life without parole. "It was a hard case," Shipman said.

Trying Bishop for killing a viable fetus was, in and of itself, an historic event.

"I think this is the first trial under Indiana's new law," Shipman said.Indiana's murder law was amended to include viable fetuses in 2001.

It has been 10 years since a life without parole sentence was handed down in Wayne County. Wayne Mull, then 29, was sentenced for the murder of 19-year-old Mindy Mull, who was no relation.

The judge determined the 1995 sentence under a law that created the sentence only a year before.

Friday's sentencing was the first time a jury made the decision under later modifications of the law.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Ann Coulter Nails Ted Kennedy Right Between The Eyes !

In her latest commentary, hysterically titled "Ted Kennedy's private parts: Part 1," Coulter demands "Kennedy immediately waive all attorney-client privilege relating to his communications with his lawyer after he drove Mary Jo Kopechne off the bridge at Chappaquiddick" in response to Kennedy's demand that "the Bush administration waive attorney-client privilege and release internal memos John Roberts worked on while in the solicitor general's office 15 years ago, all of which were supposed to be held in the deepest confidence."

After all, reasons Coulter, "If the Senate needs to know what Roberts thought about the law at age 26, then the Senate certainly needs to know what Kennedy thought about the law at age 36, when he drowned a girl and then spent the rest of the evening concocting an alibi instead of calling the police.

"This isn't a 'rehash' of Chappaquiddick; it's never been hashed. The Senate needs to know whether Kennedy was guilty of manslaughter. How else can the Senate be expected to carry out its constitutional duty to expel Kennedy unless Kennedy makes these key documents available?"

Coulter is at her best today, folks. And you can find her right now on WorldNetDaily.com!

About Me

Servant General of the F.L.A. (Franciscan Lay Apostolate); Hermitage Scullion; Former Radio Talk Show Host; Writer; Public Speaker; Former Staff Member of United States Senator Dan Coats; Retired Infantry Major: served with U.S. Army Intelligence in Vietnam and Europe; Wife: Karen (married 42 years), 5 children, 8 grandchildren ...
To request your special intentions to be offered up before our Eucharistic Lord in intercessory prayer, please e-mail your Prayer Intentions to the Portiuncula Hermitage at: hermitage@parallax.ws